this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2025
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Privacy
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Quick way of accomplishing the “de-bloating” of windows is by 1) managing your own DNS and blocking telemetry connections network wide (quite easy to do with PiHole + Docker Engine) or 2) installing Glasswire and blocking connections on the specific device however, I believe Glasswires Firewall is subscription based so this may be a turn-off for people.
Either work and are more efficient than digging around your Windows install and finding all the different variants of the same bloatware.
I use Portmaster, there go nothing in or out without my permissions.
Ah I figured Portmaster was only for Linux, I dabbled around their software and found it quite good!
I think the reason I stopped using it in lieu of OpenSnitch was because 1) most features were locked behind a subscription and 2) already had PiHole running so the firewall wasn’t something I really needed.
Regardless thanks for letting me know it works for Windows, I’ll started recommending it over Glasswire!
There are no need of subscriptions in Portmaster, it's FOSS. Well, the subscription is only if you want to use additional also the inbuild SPN service (optional service), which need an paid subscription like any good VPN (server cost money). I Prefer to use Portmaster over Pi-Hole, because Portmaster permits per app settings, Pi-Hole don'tm apart is way easier to setup, with already a good default settings, its almost download it, run install and peace. Then maybe open it, browse your listed apps and block their traffic if needed with an click.
Windows has a built in firewall, so why install a paid one?
Not nearly as user friendly for the non-networking types hence why I recommend one with a fancy GUI.
Edit: Also, I suspect Microsoft will do Microsoft things and hide/prevent their telemetry from being blocked, ultimately I don’t know the state of Windows right now as I’ve made the switched to Linux many years ago.
Simplewall works quite well too!